PHILADELPHIA – This year’s Great Valley’s 4x800-meter relay team has already shown that it knows how to scale the heights. In indoor track, the Patriots won the gold medal at the state championship meet and then placed fifth at the indoor national championships.

At the Penn Relays on Thursday, Great Valley kept its streak of excellence going when it won its race in the two-heat High School Girls 4x800 Small Schools event with a time of 9:22.37. The foursome included Crosby Spiess (2:21.1), Sarah Kochinsky (2:23.1), Anna Willig (2:20.6) and Elise Claffey (2:17.6).

“Crosby gave me the baton in good position and I just tried to keep it,” said Kochinsky. “I was in third at the pass -- close behind Holmwood (Christiana Jamaica’s Holmwood Tech) and DeSales (Baltimore’s Mount de Sales).”

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Willig said, “It was a food race for me. I just tried to get out well and keep going hard all the way. I closed the gap a little between me and the girls in front of me.”

Claffey said, “I was in second when I got the baton. I passed the girl right away but then she and another girl came back to pass me. I let them go and then, with 150 left, started to kick. I felt good at the end and had a pretty good kick. I heard about the Jamaicans but I had confidence in what I could do.”

The Patriots qualified for today’s High School Girls Championship of America race as the ninth seed.

Great Valley’s Ches-Mont League American Division rival Unionville also ran in the same race. The Indians’ team of Anne Birkenmaier (2:27.0), Olivia Young (2:20.7), Cami Rickenbach (2:25.1), Gretchen Mills (2:24.0) placed sixth with a clocking of 9:36.73.

The top area finisher in the 4x400 was Avon Grove.

The Red Devils took first in the High School Girls 4x400 Suburban ChesMont race when Ellie Pollock, McKenna Keegan, Moriah Fitzgerald and Caroline Keegan combined for a time of 4:01.90.

“I got out well,” said Pollock. “I handed off in second place and was neck-and-neck with the girl.”

McKenna Keegan said, “I was running in second and then passed the girl at the 200. Then, at the handoff, the other team was in the wrong lane and that threw me off al ittle when I was passing the baton to Moriah.”

Fitzgerald said, “We were actually in first after the handoff. The Great Valley girl almost got me near the end.”

It all came down to the anchor leg and Caroline Keegan did what good anchors are supposed to do -- she clinched the win.

“We were basically tied for first at the handoff and then she got a little lead on me,” said Caroline Keegan. “With 200 to go, I heard my coach say -- short and quick. I knew I had to go. I wasn’t sure if I could catch her but I knew I had to give it my all and try.”

Great Valley finished second at 4:03.25 with the quartet of Carol Burgess, Tabitha Wismer, Caroline Moyer and Sarah Hipwell. Downingtown West placed third at 4:04.89 followed by Unionville at 410.35, Downingtown East at 4:12.54, West Chester East at 4:13.23 and Coatesville at 4:15.72. Conestoga finished fifth in the High School Girls’ 4x400 Central race at 4:04.10.

The top area teams in the 4x100 heats were Avon Grove at 51.32, Unionville at 51.34,

Conestoga at 51.56, Great Valley at 52.48 and Westtown School at 52.49. Avon Grove’s foursome featured Grace Cavanaugh, Jill Rooney, McKenna Keegan and Fitzgerald.

“This wasn’t our regular 4x100 because we were missing Ellie (Pollock),” said Cavanaugh. “We still had one of our best times of the season.”

In the field event portion of the huge annual meet at Penn’s Franklin Field, West Chester Rustin’s Adashia Franklyn placed ninth overall with a throw of 12.54 meters -- which converts to 41-1.75 in feet and inches.

In the evening distance events, Unionville’s Courtney Smith won the bronze medal in the High School Girls 3000 meter Championship with a clocking of 9:38.40. Sophie Chase of Burke, Virginia’s lake Braddock High won the race at 9:35.32 and Margaret Drazba from St. Mary’s High in St. Mary’s, West Virginia was runner-up at 9:37.37.

In the College Men’s 5000m Championship, former Bishop Shanahan standout Chris Bodary, who now runs for the University of Tennessee, was 15th at 14:31.53. In the College Men’s 5000m College race, Glen Burkhardt (Unionville/Penn State) finished 17th at 14:45.08 and Ian Barnhill (Downingtown West/La Salle) placed 22nd at 14:48.85.